I agree with OP. "I'm good" instead of "No thank you" ranks right up there with "No problem" as a response to "Thanks." (I never thought it was a problem, I was just thanking you. How about "You're welcome" instead?)

Sometime around day four of our stay in Ireland I noticed that not one single person had said "You're welcome" in response to my "thank you". We started listening for it and nope, not once in two weeks did I hear "you're welcome". They had about twenty different ways of not saying it and it ended up being pretty funny.

I don't have a problem with "I'm good". The right tone implies the "thank you".

The specific words, "Thank you" aren't as important to me as tone and attitude. I always prefer a friendly or even neutral "No." to a snarkey or insincere yes, no, I'm good/fine, etc. Followed by a thank you.

Saying thank you as preferred by the OP is implying "Thank you for offering", and there are times that simply isn't appropriate.

Edited to finish a sentence.

« Last Edit: January 19, 2013, 08:15:53 PM by oogyda »

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It's not what we gather along the way that matters. It's what we scatter.

The specific words, "Thank you" aren't as important to me as tone and attitude. I always prefer a friendly or even neutral "No." to a snarkey or insincere yes, no, I'm good/fine, etc.

Agreed. We teach exact scripts for please/thank you/you're welcome to children because it's easier to impress a rule upon them when they're not old enough to understand the underlying "theory," if you will. But as adults there are a lot of ways we can phrase things, and if we sound pleasant and gracious, they can be polite phrases even if they're not the script. Kind of like how it's actually possible to say "May I have a ____" without the please and still be polite. Or I have one friend who always thanks me in German and I you're-welcome him in Spanish. Language is quirky. Tone is huge.

It's lack of clarity aggravates me when used outside of specific situations. Refusing a top-up on a glass, 'I'm good' makes perfect sense. But the expression and use is fairly new (at least to me) so when people used it to, say, tell me they didn't want anything else with their order at work, it confused me at first. It's a slangy expression that I think isn't immediately obvious. I also hear it's cousin 'I'm OK'. I have also heard it spread to other uses of 'no', for example 'do you want to come over tomorrow and watch a movie' 'I'm good'.

I don't want it to become a shorthand for any sort of refusal...I'm only imagining. 'Will you marry me?' 'I'm good, thanks!'

It's lack of clarity aggravates me when used outside of specific situations. Refusing a top-up on a glass, 'I'm good' makes perfect sense. But the expression and use is fairly new (at least to me) so when people used it to, say, tell me they didn't want anything else with their order at work, it confused me at first. It's a slangy expression that I think isn't immediately obvious. I also hear it's cousin 'I'm OK'. I have also heard it spread to other uses of 'no', for example 'do you want to come over tomorrow and watch a movie' 'I'm good'.

OK, yeah, that doesn't make any sense. It really mostly makes sense for being offered more food or drink, etc.

I don't really mind "no problem" either. It's not that major of a deal for me.

Yeah, I remember seeing a debate on ehell about that before too that I never understood. I use "no problem" all the time, and it really just means that -- "It was no problem helping you." I have no idea why that's less polite than "You're welcome."

Language changes and new shorthands get formed all the time. I don't think there's much point in getting uptight and declaring these phrases to be rude.

I agree with OP. "I'm good" instead of "No thank you" ranks right up there with "No problem" as a response to "Thanks." (I never thought it was a problem, I was just thanking you. How about "You're welcome" instead?)

Sometime around day four of our stay in Ireland I noticed that not one single person had said "You're welcome" in response to my "thank you". We started listening for it and nope, not once in two weeks did I hear "you're welcome". They had about twenty different ways of not saying it and it ended up being pretty funny.

I don't have a problem with "I'm good". The right tone implies the "thank you".

Actually, Irish people don't say you're welcome as a general rule. We generally say "no bother" which is not NOT saying you're welcome, it's just an equivalent. It's no less polite, just a regional difference. Is that what you meant?

I agree with OP. "I'm good" instead of "No thank you" ranks right up there with "No problem" as a response to "Thanks." (I never thought it was a problem, I was just thanking you. How about "You're welcome" instead?)

Sometime around day four of our stay in Ireland I noticed that not one single person had said "You're welcome" in response to my "thank you". We started listening for it and nope, not once in two weeks did I hear "you're welcome". They had about twenty different ways of not saying it and it ended up being pretty funny.

I don't have a problem with "I'm good". The right tone implies the "thank you".

Actually, Irish people don't say you're welcome as a general rule. We generally say "no bother" which is not NOT saying you're welcome, it's just an equivalent. It's no less polite, just a regional difference. Is that what you meant?

This. There's no special magic to the words "you're welcome"--different countries and different cultures have all sorts of polite ways of acknowledging a thank-you.

Cross_patch, I didn't think it wasn't polite, just amusing. The reponse wasn't always "no bother", there was a wide variety of responses. And when I mentioned it to my Irish FIL, who was travelling with us, he said he hadn't noticed.

I agree with OP. "I'm good" instead of "No thank you" ranks right up there with "No problem" as a response to "Thanks." (I never thought it was a problem, I was just thanking you. How about "You're welcome" instead?)

Sometime around day four of our stay in Ireland I noticed that not one single person had said "You're welcome" in response to my "thank you". We started listening for it and nope, not once in two weeks did I hear "you're welcome". They had about twenty different ways of not saying it and it ended up being pretty funny.

I don't have a problem with "I'm good". The right tone implies the "thank you".

Actually, Irish people don't say you're welcome as a general rule. We generally say "no bother" which is not NOT saying you're welcome, it's just an equivalent. It's no less polite, just a regional difference. Is that what you meant?

This. There's no special magic to the words "you're welcome"--different countries and different cultures have all sorts of polite ways of acknowledging a thank-you.

Thanks yvaine, that's it exactly. I think it was the amusing part that threw me off. I imagine your FIL wouldn't notice, because to him people were answering it in a normal manner.